Box Score CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. -- UPIKE women's basketball nearly erased a 21-point lead, but couldn't find the breaks necessary to take down the No. 6 team in the country, losing to Campbellsville 80-75.

There were multiple instances that UPIKE was got it down to a one-possession game in the fourth quarter, but the shooters of Campbellsville kept finding a way to keep the Bears at bay. Madison Stewart kept hitting clutch shot after clutch shot all night, leading the Tigers with 26 points, 10 of which came in the fourth.

UPIKE appeared to not be afraid of the Tigers early on, turning two eight-point leads into a three-point lead late in the quarter. But the second period is when Campbellsville looked like possibly the top team in the conference. The Tigers' defense completely flustered the Bears, forcing 12 turnovers in just that period alone, 18 total in the first half. Those 18 turnovers translated into 16 points for the Tigers. Campbellsville led by as much as 21 in the second quarter, but UPIKE went on a late 8-0 run to go into halftime down 13.

The Bears were able to stay alive against Campbellsville's lack of true size as Brianna Burbridge and Mia Greatrex were both in double-figures by the halftime whistle with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Burbridge turned in another great performance on Thursday, scoring 18 points with four rebounds.

UPIKE then came alive in the third quarter simply by cutting down the turnovers. With only four turnovers in the period, Pikeville continued to do what they had all night, simply shoot better than Campbellsville. The Bears shot 53 percent in the third, while holding CU to 33 percent. Pikeville even caused a bit of role reversal, forcing eight Tigers turnovers. During that time the Bears went on a 13-2 run which got the lead all the way down to four points.

It truly felt like a new game in the fourth quarter, with teams trading bucket for bucket. After Mary Englert made a three with 6:15 left in the game, the lead diminished down to just two points for the first time since the game was less than three minutes old. Englert was an absolute catalyst in the second half, scoring 16 of her team-high 19 points after halftime.

However, each time UPIKE got it down to a one-possession game, Campbellsville answered with a bucket of their own. UPIKE had the ball in the final minute down three, but Madison Faulkner stole the ball and got the and-one bucket to essentially ice the game.

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The Bears will return home on Saturday to face Georgetown on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the East Kentucky Expo Center.